


In My Sights

by Valaks



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: A Way to Answer the Question of How Alex Did So Well Shooting for the First Time at Malagosto, Alex is a Good Sport, Careful Misdirection, Fixing Horowitz’ Plot Holes One by One, Gen, Ian Rider’s A+ Parenting, Mentor!Yassen, Shooting lessons, Yassen kind of approves, Yassen’s Passive Aggressive Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valaks/pseuds/Valaks
Summary: Alex never was able to get much out of Ian about his father, just that he had been in the paras and had been an expert marksman. So when Ian had taken him to the gun range to teach him to shoot for his Christmas present he had been understandably excited. They went every Saturday until he had to leave for another business meeting. Which was fine, it couldn’t be helped, but it was really thoughtful of him to send one of his father’s old friends around to shore up his lessons while he was gone.
Relationships: Yassen Gregorovich & Alex Rider
Comments: 12
Kudos: 166





	In My Sights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [victoryhonorfame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoryhonorfame/gifts).



It was six in the morning when the doorbell rang at the Rider house, just as unassuming and unremarkable outwardly as the man who lived there. By design, of course. Healthy in their business, even if years of working in the same field had not engendered any fondness for Ian Rider. But he wasn’t here for Ian. He was here for Alex.

There was a distant call of “Coming” followed by heavy footsteps and muttered curses before the door was flung open. 

“Can I help you?” A red headed woman asked, bordering just on the edge of polite. 

“Yes, I’m here to pick up Alex.” Her demeanor shifted, the hand on the door gripped tighter, she moved to fill the frame - not a mother but all the protective instincts of one. 

“And who are you?” She demanded

“Gregor Mikhailov” he said firmly then softened “Ian forgot to mention it didn’t he? That’s so like him.” He huffed and a little bit of tension ebbed away. With Ian’s cover the little warning he got before a mission would come across as forgetfulness of a career obsessed business man. Yassen had worked with less. “I’m one of Ian’s acquaintances but I served with Alex’s father as a sharpshooter. He reached out when he started Alex on shooting lessons to see if I could show him the ropes and for a week or two while he was out on his trip.” She was just on the edge of being convinced. “He said he’d be out of touch but….here let me find the emails.” He offered, pulling out his phone and making a show of finding them. 

Ms. Starbright studied them reading carefully through it then nodded slowly and handed the phone back. 

“I’m sorry to spring this on you…”

“It’s not your fault. Come in, I’ll fetch Al-“ she began only to turn and see him behind her. “Alex we talked about listening in on conversations.” She lectured he looked suitably chastised if the crinkle near his eyes gave away his insincerity. 

“Sorry Jack it was just a bit early for someone to come round and you left the rashers in the pan….” she swore loudly and pushed past him. 

“When do we start?” Alex asked, eagerly. He was almost relieved, that was an attitude he could work with. He hadn’t imagined that Ian Rider would raise a spoiled child but he had also doubted that Ian would have much time to raise him at all. Thankfully he had come out what had to have been a series of nannies relatively grounded. Time would tell just how grounded he was. 

“We’ll begin immediately.”

“I‘m meant to be in school.” 

“Not while I am here, I only have limited time to teach you” Alex hesitated so Yassen continued “And what I teach may save your life one day, Ian agreed that was slightly more important than geometry.” He seemed to relent at that, his stance shifting to show his acceptance, they would work on that as well. They had 2 weeks assuming his contact could keep their end of the bargain. “Go change into something loose that you can spar in.”

Alex nodded and then he was gone. Starbright had returned Looking a little harried, she didn’t appear thrilled but she didn’t need to be. He would convince her if she pushed but their discussion seemed to have persuaded her of his authority enough to avoid an outright confrontation.

“He’s just a boy, he needs to be in school.”

He imagined that Alex Rider was not ‘just’ anything and he doubted that he would get the opportunity to be a boy for much longer. “I am aware, but Ian asked this of me. Who am I to question?” A subtle appeal to authority and a reminder that who was  _ she  _ to question either. 

It earned him a disagreeable huff but nothing further “Coffee?”

“Please” he doubted Alex would take that long to change but accepting her hospitality would only endear him to her and he would need her cooperation. 

Today would be about setting benchmarks - a 5 kilometer run had taken them to the dojo he had rented out for the morning. Sparring had hardly been a challenge. Alex was talented for his age, but he had clearly never fought outside of a formal setting. He had a better appreciation for Hunter’s initial lessons at Malagosto - in the field, in a real fight, no one followed the rules. That had been Alex’s lesson today, how to handle it would take up the rest of their time. If Yassen took a little pleasure in replicating Hunter’s teaching methods, well, he could hardly be blamed. 

Alex had been shocked at first but had bounced back with a surprising amount of resiliency. He had braced himself to deal with a pampered British schoolboy, had anticipated a litany of “that’s not fair”s but they never came. After he had brought him to the floor the first time, Alex had just taken his proffered hand and asked him to demonstrate the sweep again. Yassen could work with that, the next two weeks were already looking to be a good investment and not the chore he had anticipated. 

They had returned back home at a jog, Alex was likely too tired for a proper run and he needed to keep his energy up for shooting lessons. At Malagosto he would not have been given the option and he imagined that if he pushed, Alex would accept it and obey if not for John’s legacy then for Ian’s implicit command. But this wasn’t Malagosto and a jog would allow him a chance to cram more information into Alex’s head. Not today, though, today he rewarded Alex’s work at the dojo with the story of the first time that he had trained with Hunter albeit heavily edited to match his cover. Alex’s eyes had remained glued on him throughout the tale, almost tripping himself a few times on the uneven pavement, only natural balance and Yassen’s occasional guiding hand had kept him upright. By the end they had arrived at the end of their street and slowed to a walk.

“I take it Ian has not shared much about John’s time in the service?”

“Not really, no.” 

Unsurprising, Ian hadn’t been all that close with John to begin with and they had likely been out of communications entirely for the 3 years John had been with SCORPIA. All the better for Yassen, if Alex’s reaction to his story was any indication they would be a very effective motivator. “Do well and I will share more.”

“Yes, sir” He didn’t miss the spark of determination in his eyes, a very,  _ very _ effective motivator then.

After a light lunch courtesy of the housekeeper they had set off for the shooting range. Yassen took the time to drill Alex on what he knew about driving during that time. Apparently quite a bit, Ian had seen it as a useful skill and it happened to be one that any young boy would be thrilled to learn more about. Smart. When they reached the question of whether Alex knew how to hotwire a car he had gotten a confused look 

“Isn’t that illegal?” 

“Very. But useful, especially in your father and I’s line of work. Do you want to learn?” Alex hesitated, worrying his lip. Obviously debating the moral dubiousness of it. Then nodded his head. Yassen had known that would be the answer, Alex would likely be willing to learn anything so long as he preceded it with a statement that he had learned it from Hunter. They would certainly be putting that to the test as well. 

The range was unsurprisingly empty at noon on a Monday which suited their needs just fine. They had quickly 

“Show me what Ian has taught you so far” he ordered, placing the Grach and 3 clips of ammunition on the small table in the stall. Alex checked the gun over, he didn’t have the surety of movement yet, that would come with time but his review was acceptable for now. He would add to it slowly but first he needed to see what he had to work with. 

When he was through he took up his stance, it was….decent but not something he would let stand even for a demonstration. A hand on the top of the gun was enough to signal Alex to flip the safety back on and lower it, tilting his head questioningly. He pulled his own ear muffs down and Alex followed suit. “Bring the gun back up, there are a few things to correct in your stance first.” 

A light kick to his right ankle saw it brought closer in, a neat shoulder length apart. 

“Do you feel how much more stable this stance is?”

Alex nodded, shifting slightly to get a feel for it, internalizing it before he broke out of it and tried to get back in. A solid attempt. “Lock your elbows.” He corrected softly and shifted Alex’s grip. He paused for a second for Alex to take it in. 

“Again.” He ordered and Alex broke the stance then shifted back in. Good. He was a fast learner. They would test the muscle memory more tomorrow to see if he could replicate it. For now he ran Alex through the stance until he was satisfied. 

“I think we can move on to firing.” Alex hurriedly set the gun down on the table and pulled his muffs back on then falling back into the stance. Very good. Alex looked to him for approval and Yassen nodded. 

Ian had done well for only a few weeks of instruction. Alex was consistently hitting within the rings, not a bullseye but good enough. He took his time, but he would not be given that should someone come for him. Alex would need to learn instinctive firing but that had been the plan from the start. He had enough of the basics from traditional to transfer over seamlessly and more importantly he had the potential, all Yassen needed to do was give him the skills. Suddenly 2 weeks didn’t feel like enough time to do Alex justice. 

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for Victory for crushing her exams.
> 
> Prompt: How did Alex get a 72% on Ross’ range when allegedly the only thing he ever shot was the prime minister’s hand? And how can Yassen fix this. 
> 
> Does diverge from canon obviously. Not sure if I’ll continue but Ian’s face when Jack describes the “hot guy that you asked to help Alex”. It also does make Stormbreaker way more interesting.


End file.
